The QUEST for Better Software

You don't rise to your goals, you fall to your systems. This talk introduces five daily habits to fundamentally improve how your team builds software.

#1about 6 minutes

The quest for better software amid overwhelming advice

Software development teams face a flood of conflicting advice, but focusing on daily habits and the human element can lead to better outcomes.

#2about 3 minutes

How Conway's Law shapes your software architecture

Conway's Law explains that a software system's architecture will inevitably mirror the communication structure of the organization that built it.

#3about 4 minutes

The human element and psychological safety in teams

Effective software development depends on human relationships and creating psychological safety where teams feel secure enough to experiment and challenge ideas.

#4about 5 minutes

Synthesizing principles from three key industry sources

Core ideas are extracted from the Agile Manifesto, Gene Kim's "The Unicorn Project," and John Romero's programming principles to find common themes.

#5about 2 minutes

Introducing the QUEST framework for daily improvement

The QUEST framework synthesizes key industry advice into five core pillars: Quality, Unrestricted, End-user, Simplicity, and Team.

#6about 3 minutes

Building lasting improvement with atomic habits

Applying the principles of "Atomic Habits" helps teams integrate the QUEST framework through small, consistent daily actions rather than large, disruptive transformations.